MUSIC
The Greatest Debut Album Side 1 Track 1 Songs Ever
According to the only opinion that counts — mine
And let me come out swinging.
Yeah, I know. It’s a pretty narrow field for the criteria: track 1, side 1 of their debut album. (Not a single or EP. Album.) My response is a big So What? My article, my criteria, my choice. The reason I feel it to be an important criterion is that so many albums, despite potentially having stellar material on them, end up in the dustbin because you can’t make it through the first track.
The following ten-ish (we’re talking rock’n’roll not math here) songs are my absolute favourite album openers. I’m sure you can find others that just blow your mind, so tell me about them in the comments. Of course, you’ll be wrong, and I might tell you why, but that’s only because it’s my list and not yours.
Hell, if it irks you enough, write your point-counterpoint article, and I’ll be “Jane, you ignorant slut” to your Dan Aykroyd. Keep the opinions flowing. Nobody’s right. Nobody’s wrong. We all like what we like. And this is what I like.
And here are my Top 10 (or so) debut album-opening tracks, in no particular order (except that the Ramones track is the greatest of them all and the last track sucks donkey balls).
1) Blitzkrieg Bop — Ramones
There is absolutely no album opener, be it a band’s first album or the 100th album, that can match Blitzkrieg Bop.
Dee Dee’s now-iconic “1… 2… 3… 4”. Johnny’s buzzing chainsaw of a Mosrite. Joey’s nasal snarl. Tommy’s thundering drums.
There is no first track of any debut album that can stand toe-to-toe with this track. If it weren’t for this track, this album, you’d still be wearing flares and slippers, while listening to “Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band. Amd I’m sure some of you still are.
2) Holidays in the Sun — The Sex Pistols
Never Mind the Bollocks was a breakthrough album in pure malevolence, allowing the Sex Pistols to snarl and spit their way to infamy. There may be far better songs on the album, but as the opening salvo of guitars and despair, Holidays in the Sun are absolutely perfect. From the sounds of marching to the opening chords, to John Lydon’s snarl of “Cheap holidays in other people's misery”, it sets the tone of the album. You never look back.
3) Janie Jones — The Clash
The drums begin their tribal thumping. The guitars strain to keep the reggae beat. Joe Strummer begins his chanting. It mesmerises you and catches your ears. Your head starts bopping. Your feet. Your arms. Your legs. It starts you dancing to a dance that you’ve never heard before. The power is in the music, and the music is The Clash. Such is the majesty of the stripped-down power of The Clash.
4) Suspect Device — Stiff Little Fingers
Inflammable material, planted in my head It’s a suspect device that’s left two thousand dead Their solutions are our problems They put up the wall On each side, time and prime us Make sure we get fuck all
Jake Burns / Gordon Archer Ogilvie — Stiff Little Fingers
The rhythm. The speed. The passion. The lyrics. The politics. Making the political personal.
Those are the things that drew me to Stiff Little Fingers. Especially making the politics personal. They didn’t write about grand ideas in grand terms. They wrote about grand ideas in personal terms. They took the idea of a suspect device, during The Troubles in Ireland, and turned it from a bomb in the street to a bomb in your head. That is their hallmark — making people see big issues in terms of themselves.
People have credited this album with stopping The Troubles. Perhaps there is too much credit given, but the union of kids of different religions through music and culture did certainly work against the continued sectarian violence that Ireland was undergoing.
5) Neat, Neat, Neat — The Damned
The Damned is definitely a band that refuses to be pigeonholed. Starting with their glory days (for me) as the premier punk band to playing with Lemmy to becoming the poster children of Goth superheroes, it’s been 45 years and they are still rocking. And this is the song that kicked off their first album.
6) Ramblin’ Rose — The MC5
The Jerry Lee Lewis record song Ramblin’ Rose opens up the MC5’s debut release, and it is nothing like the Killer’s version. Loud, fast, and guitar-based, with Wayne Kramer taking the lead vocals, it is the perfect introduction that is the planned mayhem of the MC5. Many people would think that Kick Out the Jams would have been a better intro. But with the audience’s hands clapping in unison and an immortal introduction Brother J. C. Crawford where he gives us “a testimonial — the MC 5", Ramblin’ Rose literally sucks you into the album. And then, it’s time to kick out the jams, motherfuckers…
7) 1969 — The Stooges
For the first few bars, it sounds like your typical lovey-dovey hippy shit. An overdriven amp with a whammy pedal, and then it all changes. The primitiveness of Iggy’s vocals and Ron Asheton’s guitar, combining with his brother Scott’s drums and Dave Alexander’s base, introduce the world to the Stooges and to the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop. The primal beat. The simplicity that many have emulated, but few have succeeded at. You can feel the power rippling beneath the surface, which later explodes on their next albums, Funhouse and Raw Power. And then when the solo starts…
8) Personality Crisis — New York Dolls
The New York Dolls — glammed to the max. What KISS wanted to be, but couldn’t. A mixture of camp, Motown, glitter, and down-to-earth rock’n’roll. David Johansen, the poor man’s Mick Jagger, if Mick Jagger actually could back up the strut. Johnny Thunders’ ’55 Les Paul Special (he later switched to his infamous LP JR TV), with Chuck Berry riffs and a Queens’ attitude, was, as Killer Kane described “raunchy, nasty, rough, raw, and untamed”, just what the doctor ordered. Sylvain Sylvain’s flamboyant rhythm guitar rounded out the front end of the band, while Killer Kane and Jerry Nolan formed the backbone of the act.
Their fashion sense and provocative nature often overshadowed their musical genius, but Johanson’s scream at the beginning of this track, coupled with the straight-ahead rock’n’roll, make this opening track smoke.
9) Rise Above — Black Flag
It’s unfortunate that Henry Rollins has become such a punk rock media whore spokesperson these days. You can’t watch a documentary without seeing him, the annoying drummer from Nirvana, or Ian MacKaye yak on and on about shit. But back in the day, when I saw them at Fryfogyles in London, Ontario, in most likely1982, he sang more than he talked. And it was raw and pure.
As far as Black Flag singers go, Rollins is the one I like the least, but he was the angriest. And on this album, he kills it. His onstage aggro translates perfectly for me onto this vinyl. And at this stage in pop music, when it was still punks vs the world, we were pretty fucking tired of your abuse.
10) Sonic Reducer — Dead Boys
The Dead Boys. Cleveland’s greatest rock’n’roll band. Ever. (Sorry, Trent. NIИ isn’t the one)
From the opening power chords, Sonic Reducer hooked me. It reached out and pulled me into the music. It is their greatest song, by far. And it’s on Track 1, Side 1 — like a band’s best song should be. If you don’t grab your listeners by the throat on your first song, it’s not likely they’ll stick around to listen to your second. I never had the chance to see the original band live, but I have seen Cheetah Chrome several times, and the reformed Dead Boys twice.
The shows were always amazing. And if you want to learn more about them, watch the disappointing CBGB’s movie. It’s worth the watch despite the inaccuracies and the sad fact that some Harry Potter actor plays Cheetah. On the bright side, Alan Rickman plays Hilly Kristal in the film. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
11) Guitar Town — Steve Earle
And now, for something completely different, Steve Earle’s debut album was a godsend in the early ’80s. It was a straight-forward country-rock album that wasn’t overproduced or playing to the sycophant rhinestone cowboys that dominated the airwaves. And Guitar Town epitomised that.
Nothing ever happened around my hometown And I ain’t the kind to just hang around But I heard someone calling my name one day And I followed that voice down the lost highway
~Steve Earle
Unlike Springsteen’s songs of suburban depression and despair, Steve Earle brought joy to the nothingness of rural life, especially when the song’s about getting the fuck out of there, and doing something with your life. Just like when he “followed that voice down the lost highway.”
And unlike Hank Sr, he didn’t curse the lost highway. He loved it. But he also hasn't lost his life on it, yet.
Take my advice or you’ll curse the day You started rollin’ down that lost highway
~ Leon Payne (performed by Hank Williams)
16) Live Wire — Motley Crue
So much potential, and then it just drifts off into another banger ballad, full of excess with no substance. Admittedly it’s one of their best songs, but the slow parts just bum me out.
Some old dead white guy probably said it best:
Told by an idiot, Full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
~ William Shakespeare
And in conclusion:
Is my list a fair list?
Hell, no!
Is it a complete list?
Nope!
Do I care?
No!
It’s only my opinion, and my opinion is only important to me. It should be to you, but it isn’t. And I’m Ok with that. Really, it’s OK. My heart will heal.
Go listen to your favourite debut albums’ first tracks and let me know which ones blow the hell out of my choices.
Go ahead, make my day…
Paul Mansfield is a writer, a photographer, a guitar player, a philosopher — some he does well, some not so well, but he still tries them all. You can follow him on Twitter @pmansfield.
Here are the 5 top songs he could definitely do without ever hearing again.
